Zack Snyder’s space opera «Rebel Moon», which was previously released in two parts on Netflix, will get a director’s cut — according to the announcement, it will be «sexier and bloodier» than the original and will debut on the streaming service on August 2.
Both will also get new titles: Rebel Moon — Part One: A Child of Fire will be broadcast in the extended version as Rebel Moon — Chapter One: Chalice of Blood, and Part Two: The Scargiver — as Chapter Two: Curse of Forgiveness.
«In Snyder’s directorial version, a peaceful settlement on the moon in the farthest reaches of the universe is threatened by the armies of the tyrannical regent Balisarius, and Cora, a mysterious stranger who lives among the peasants, becomes their hope for survival and gathers a small band of warriors — outsiders, rebels, peasants, and war orphans who share a common desire for redemption and revenge», — Netflix said in a statement (via Variety).
Earlier, Snyder said that the updated versions would receive about an hour of new footage — you can see some of it in the gallery below:
Currently, the original parts have rather modest scores on Rotten Tomatoes: the first — 21% from critics and 57% from the audience, while the second one was rated even worse — only 15% from critics and 48% from viewers.
«Rebel Moon» was conceived by Snyder more than a decade ago — initially as part of «Star Wars», which the director presented to Lucasfilm between the completion of the prequel trilogy in 2005 and the sale of Lucasfilm to Disney in 2012. The story was subsequently reworked by producer Eric Newman and Snyder himself, first as an original television series and then as a feature film.
Snyder invited a high-level cast to realize his vision: Sofia Boutella as Cora, Phra Phi as Balisarius, Charlie Hunnam («Pacific Rim»), Cary Elwes («The Princess Bride»), Ed Skrein and Michiel Hausman from «Game of Thrones», Djimon Hounsou («Shazam!») and others.
Before the launch of the second part, the director hinted in an interview that he plans to continue his saga — and to release a total of 4-6 films. If Netflix does give the green light to proceed, Snyder says he and his co-writers Kurt Johnstad and Shay Hatten already have a story to tell.